pt III

This tension between ancient references and modern times surprises visitors throughout the exhibition. From the ceramic mural pieces to the trompe l’oeil paintings on canvas, Mounira Al Solh intertwines motifs found on antique mosaics, bas-reliefs or Phoenician lettering with depictions of boats, or female figures, all the while keeping to an earthy color palette. In one of the larger works on canvas, the artist combines yellow natural pigments and Phoenician red to reimagine Europa. Instead of being abducted by him, the princess here cradles the half-human-half-bull Zeus, in a stance that negates the damsel in distress narrative. Two sculpture heads clutching their faces with their hands rethink the act of crying as a performative ritual, hollowed out at the top to leave room for a lachrymatory.